An Origin of Symmetry
by GenkiPlus
Summary: Remus Lupin was terrified of doing something to hurt one of his closest friends. Sirius Black enjoyed putting itching powder in people's robes. James Potter turned Lily Evans' hair into an obnoxious rainbow. Peter Pettigrew actually gave decent advice. And someone's hair caught on fire during Charms once again. Just a typical year for the students at Hogwarts. Remus/OC.


**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling does! I do however own Maisie Langdon and random OCs that will appear in this chapter and future chapters. So please read and review!**

**An Origin of Symmetry**

**Chapter One - "Calling it a Coincidence"**

_September 1__st__, 1971._

Starting at a new school for the first time was always a bit terrifying. Starting out at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the young age of eleven was as every bit terrifying as they made it sound. You'd be away from your parents, your siblings, you'd be away from everything that was remotely welcome and familiar to you for ten months out of the year. You were expected to learn and study magic, all while trying to figure out what kind of person you wanted to be. What you wanted to do with the rest of your life. Where you wanted to go, especially if you didn't want to stay in London forever. All of these things were fresh in the minds of yet another crop of new first years. But those things were the last things on their minds at that very moment. After all, they hadn't even been sorted into their Houses yet.

The average sized group of first years crowded themselves together at the front of the Great Hall, just in front of the professor's table. There seemed to be an abundance of boys over girls this time around. And naturally, most of these children didn't look familiar to the others. Sure, if you came from a pure-blooded wizarding family, some of them would look familiar to you. But not everyone came from a pure-blooded wizarding family. Some were half-bloods and some were even Muggleborn. But those who were from a pure-blood wizarding family, it was fairly easy to tell who they were just by the way they carried themselves.

"Black, Sirius." The sorting ceremony had begun when an older witch, who earlier introduced herself as Professor Minerva McGonagall, began reading off a scroll of parchment that presumably had all of their names on it.

A boy with a mop of dark curly hair walked up to the stool and sat down. Once Professor McGonagall placed the sorting hat on his head, everyone watched in anticipation.

"Gryffindor!" The tattered old hat shouted and the boy looked a bit shocked, like he was expecting to be put in a different house. Eventually, he sat down at the Gryffindor table with the other students and the sorting ceremony rolled on.

The list went on, sorting kids into each of the four Houses of Hogwarts. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. A tall blonde boy named Graham Dougherty was just sorted into Ravenclaw, while a girl with vivid red hair, Lily Evans, was placed into Gryffindor. The list continued, students being sorted one by one, making this entire ceremony seem long and boring. According to Remus Lupin, that is.

Remus Lupin wasn't your typical eleven year old boy. He had recently gone through quite a growth spurt, making him a considerable amount taller than everyone else nearby. It was difficult to place him as a first year, since he didn't look it. And he was a werewolf. Which could cause a few problems if his secret ever found it's way out in the open. Remus had always wanted to attend school, specifically Hogwarts, but his parents didn't think it was possible with their son's troublesome predicament.

With plenty of encouragement and brainstorming on behalf of Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, Remus was convinced to come to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Albus Dumbledore came up with a plan to make sure Remus would have a safe place to transform once a month, and that he wouldn't be putting any other students in any danger. Shaking his sandy brown hair out of his green eyes, Remus Lupin hoped nothing would go wrong while he was there. He needed to keep his secret safe.

All Remus Lupin wanted was to finally fit in.

"Lancaster, Bryony." Professor McGonagall called out. A small girl, with bright blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail walked up to the stool and sat down. She didn't look nervous at all, instead she had a bright smile spread across her face just as the sorting hat shouted, "Gryffindor!" Clapping her hands together as if she were immensely proud of herself, the small blonde hopped off the stool and skipped over to the Gryffindor table.

That's when the girl standing next to him caught his attention. "Langdon, Maisie." McGonagall called and the girl who caught Remus' eye cautiously stepped up and sat herself down on the stool. Her hair was a dark shade of brown, with a bit of wave to it. It was as if her mother had braided her hair before she boarded the Hogwarts Express and the moment her mother was out of sight, she quickly took the braids out. The girl looked around nervously and seemed to exhale deeply when the sorting hat called out, "Gryffindor!"

Maisie smiled before taking a seat at the Gryffindor table next to Bryony Lancaster and across from Sirius Black.

"Lupin, Remus." McGonagall called, causing Remus to jump back into reality. As he walked forward, he could feel every single pair of eyes in this hall on him. He knew it was because everyone was curious, everyone wanted to see who was sorted into which house. But deep down, Remus was telling himself that everyone was staring at him because they somehow knew he was a werewolf. They could probably tell just by looking at him. Maybe that's why he had that sudden growth spurt within the last few months. Perhaps he wouldn't have shot up like a weed if he wasn't one. Mentally kicking himself, Remus sat down on the stool and waited.

The sorting hat didn't need very long to make it's decision. "Gryffindor!" It said just as Professor McGonagall pulled the hat off of Remus' sandy brown hair. At least it wasn't Slytherin. Or Hufflepuff. Honestly, Remus thought he would've gotten placed in Ravenclaw, he loved reading and studying. Perhaps the sorting hat knew something that Remus didn't know about himself.

Remus took a seat next to Sirius Black at the Gryffindor table. As the sorting continued on, Sirius turned towards Remus and extended his right hand. "Sirius Black." There was a mischievous grin on the other boy's face and while Remus was cautious, he extended his hand and shook Sirius' hand. "Remus Lupin."

When Remus turned to the two girls sitting across from him, he was about to do the polite thing and introduce himself when the blonde girl from earlier extended her hand to him. "Bryony Lancaster. How tall are you, anyways?" She asked rather bluntly, causing Sirius to snort with laughter.

This didn't exactly catch Remus off-guard. Since his growth spurt, it was common for people to ask how tall he was. "166 cm." He'll only get taller from there, anyways. It was only natural. Remus' father was tall, and so was his mother.

Bryony nodded at Remus' answer and he turned to Maisie and gave her a small smile. She seemed fairly shy, but she didn't seem to be stuck up. In a way, the brunette reminded Remus of himself. Just a bit.

When the sorting ceremony was finally over, the feast began. Gryffindor had a few more first years join them. Two more boys, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter. And a few more girls that Remus wasn't able to catch their names. There was loud chatter all around them. Kids being reunited with their friends after spending the entire summer holiday apart. Others just meeting and becoming acquainted, sharing stories about themselves. Sirius Black and James Potter seemed to be getting along well, they were cracking jokes left and right. Every once in a while, he could hear the boy named Peter join in laughing, but he seemed too shy to join in the conversation just yet.

The three girls who were sitting across the table from them were chatting away. Bryony was the loudest of the bunch. But that didn't mean that Lily and Maisie were incredibly quiet. They spoke more than Peter did.

"So, what about you?" A female voice had asked, but Remus wasn't paying any attention to who it came from.

Silence followed soon after and when Remus looked up, he saw the three girls that were seated across from him all had their eyes on him.

"What?" Remus blinked in confusion.

The girls all smiled and Maisie was the first one to speak up. "They asked where you were from. I'm from Hastings. In East Sussex." It was the first time Remus had ever heard her voice. It was soft and soothing, nothing high pitched or incredibly intolerable. "I'm from Oxford." Remus replied.

For awhile there, Remus had almost forgotten about everything that was bothering him. He had been so worried that nobody would want to talk to him, let alone be his friend. Though now that others were talking to him, he wasn't entirely sure he could forge any sort of friendship with these people. What if he did something to hurt them? What would happen if they found out about his dangerous monthly predicament? Remus Lupin wasn't so sure he'd be able to call anyone here his friends.

* * *

_October 11__th__, 1975_

"James Potter! I am going to kick you in the arse so hard that you'll land in America!" Lily Evans' shouts woke everyone in Gryffindor Tower up early one Saturday morning. Typically this was the day everyone slept in, with the exception of a few others who enjoyed waking up early. Maisie Langdon was not one of those people who enjoyed waking up early in the morning. And unfortunately, when you shared a room with both Lily Evans and Bryony Lancaster, getting a decent amount of sleep was nearly impossible.

Maisie reluctantly rolled out of bed before changing and wandering down the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room. That's where Lily stood, shaking her fist in James Potter's face. This was a normal occurrence, Lily and James were always at each other's throats. More like Lily was always at James' throat. Lily found James absolutely revolting, but aside from a few harmless pranks towards her, Maisie didn't completely hate James.

"Really guys? It's Saturday morning. I want to sleep." Maisie groaned and plopped herself down in an unoccupied armchair nearby.

Sirius Black sat up on the sofa, he must've been laying down on it when Maisie came down the stairs, explaining why she hadn't noticed him before. "For once, I agree with Langdon. Some of us would like to sleep in. Or just you know, sleep." He said, his face had shown that he hadn't slept the previous night. Which wasn't anything new for Sirius Black. He was definitely a night owl, never a morning person.

"Hush, you. Why can't you be like Peter and Remus? They can sleep through anything!" James said as he dodged Lily as she attempted to punch him in the gut.

"Remus clearly can't sleep through everything." Said a hoarse voice from the bottom of the stairs.

Everyone turned in the direction where the voice came from while freezing in place. Maisie was half sitting, half laying in the arm chair, a similar position Sirius was in on the sofa. Lily had her fingers wrapped around James' throat while his hands were in the air in an attempt to surrender. Remus stood there at the bottom of the stairs with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked more tired than usual, which was a feat for the tall boy with the sandy brown hair. Remus always looked tired, but this morning, he looked worse than usual.

"This looks like the perfect position for all of you to be in for a family portrait. Lily strangling James, completely normal. Sirius half asleep and half falling off of the sofa. And Maisie, not entirely awake yet, even though these two over here are shouting loud enough for the whole country to hear." Remus said as he walked away from the stairs to stand between the armchair and the plush red sofa.

Maisie lifted her hands and rubbed at her eyes. "Seriously. What did Potter do now?" She asked. Maybe if they could figure out what happened, all would be right with the world and perhaps they could go back to sleep for a few more hours.

Lily's face was turning red. "Potter's so obnoxious and look, he even woke Remus up! And Remus can sleep through a train storming through his room!" Lily said, her hands balled up into fists down at her sides. James on the other hand, seemed to have a death wish when he opened his mouth to speak. "Actually, it was your shouting that woke him up. I know better than you that dear Remus needs to get his beauty sleep."

"How about we leave me out of this?" Remus asked as he leaned against the armchair that Maisie was sitting on. The brunette was dozing off, but Lily shouted once more, jolting the once sleepy girl wide awake with a start.

"Ugh! Stupid Potter!" Lily groaned in frustration and stormed back up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.

Everyone looked towards the stairs then turned their eyes onto James. "As Langdon asked before, what the hell did you do to Evans?" Sirius asked from his spot on the plush red sofa.

"Don't tell me, you asked her out again didn't you?" Remus continued.

James stood there, grin spread wide across his face. "I may have accidentally shot a spell towards her that changes one's hair color. Into multiple obnoxious, yet fun shades." As James spoke, Maisie's hands instinctively went to her hair. "Don't worry, Langdon. Certain people like your hair the way it is. So you're safe." James grinned before eyeing Remus quickly.

The taller boy shot James a look and felt his cheeks warm up. Remus had developed a crush on Maisie some time during their second year. Normally, Remus wouldn't allow himself to think that way about anyway, especially when he was hiding such a deep, dark secret. Or as James so affectionately called it, his 'furry little problem'. Remus had eventually decided that if James, Peter and Sirius could accept Remus for what he really was, then maybe, when the time was right, Maisie would too. After all, she wasn't as austere and brusque as Sirius and James were. And she was far more sympathetic than Peter was.

Unfortunately, Remus had never worked up the courage to tell Maisie how he really felt about her. Not to mention she was dating some obnoxious jerk from Ravenclaw. Grayson Turner, a fellow fifth year like themselves. No one seemed to be a fan of Grayson. James enjoyed referring to him as a pompous jackass and Sirius liked to put itching powder in his robes. Remus wasn't a fan of Grayson's, either. It was common knowledge that he messed around with other girls behind Maisie's back, but he would always deny doing so. Perhaps Maisie was starting to figure Grayson out, because she hadn't talked about him much recently.

"Good, because my hair is finally getting long again." Maisie said while glaring in Sirius' direction. The dark haired boy held his hands up in front of him. "That was one time, Langdon! And it was most certainly an accident." James let out a snort at Sirius' response. "Yes, Sirius knows not to do that ever again. Someone gave him a stern talking to right after."

Remus cleared his throat in an attempt to change the subject. "Well, while you all chat, I'm heading down to breakfast."

Maisie stood up, stretching her arms over her head. "I'll go, too. I'm starving."

Sirius and James looked at one another before they both turned to Remus, grinning devilishly. "We'll meet you two down there then. I have some unfinished business to attend to." James said while Sirius quickly nodded his head in agreement.

Both Maisie and Remus looked at one another curiously before Remus spoke up. "Fine but, try not to set anything else on fire."

"Can't promise you anything, dear Remus." Sirius said with a cheeky smile.

* * *

Breakfast that morning started out rather uneventful. Lily stayed put up in Gryffindor Tower, presumably cooling down. Bryony came down to join Remus and Maisie soon after they got to the Great Hall. Eventually James, Sirius and Peter came down to join them as well.

"I swear if I go up to my room and Lily's still pissed off, I'm kicking your face in." Bryony said between mouthfuls of bacon and eggs.

Sirius laughed. "Bring it on, Lancaster."

Maisie rolled her eyes. "Must we challenge each other so early in the morning?"

Sirius and Bryony glanced at Maisie. "Well, okay then. Challenge away." The brunette said as she went back to eating her breakfast.

The group was about finished with their breakfast when someone sauntered up to the table. "Well, aren't you all a cheery bunch. Long time, no talk, Maisie Langdon." The deep voice caused everyone to look up. Standing behind James Potter was Grayson Turner. He was tall, but not as tall as Remus, and his blonde hair stuck up in the front as either a result of not caring or just rolling out of bed. Grayson Turner was one of those guys that girls couldn't help but stare at, and he enjoyed every single minute of it.

"Hold on a minute. Is there a pompous jackass behind me?" James asked as he pointed a finger to the tall figure behind him.

Grayson rolled his blue eyes. "I'll pretend I didn't hear Potter say that. So, how is Maisie doing?"

Maisie didn't even look up from her plate. Instead she began pushing her remaining eggs around on her plate with her fork. "She's fine." The brunette responded. "Thanks for asking." Maisie was frustrated with Grayson, he completely ignored her all summer. No matter how many letters she wrote him, he never wrote back. She figured out that he had been cheating on her with plenty of other girls. Maisie deserved to be with someone infinitely better than Grayson Turner. And she was to the point where she didn't even care anymore.

"You don't seem so thrilled by me being here." Grayson went to say but Bryony opened her mouth. "Shut the hell up. Go back to the Ravenclaw table, Turner. This is for Gryffindor's only."

Grayson held a hand to his chest, pretending to be hurt by Bryony's harsh tone of voice. "Yes, I am in Ravenclaw, because I actually have a brain. And I was talking to Maisie, not to you." Bryony flipped the blonde boy a not so nice gesture with her middle finger and Sirius began laughing.

"Just go, Grayson. I'm trying to eat breakfast. I'd prefer to not lose my appetite." Maisie said defiantly, causing James, Sirius and Peter to applaud loudly. "You heard the lady! Out! Vamoose! Scram! Bye bye!" Sirius said and Grayson frowned.

"Whatever. Just be ready for our Hogsmeade date next weekend." Grayson winked at Maisie before he finished sauntering off towards the Ravenclaw table.

Everyone sitting at their part of the Gryffindor table was silent. Except for both Bryony who blew a raspberry in Grayson's direction and Sirius who said something under his breath. "I hate that jackass. Sorry, Maisie." Sirius said and the brunette smiled in return. It was one of the few times when Sirius didn't call Maisie by her last name. "It's fine. It's about time I saw him for what he really was."

"A dipshit who should crawl back under the rock he came out of?" James asked.

"You could say that." Maisie said as she pushed her plate away from her.

Peter spoke up for the first time during breakfast. "Who knows. Maybe there's someone much better for you out there. They're probably closer than you think."

James and Sirius glanced in Remus' direction. His cheeks were a light shade of pink and he was trying so hard to hide the smile on his face. "Who knows, they could be sitting right next to you."

Remus Lupin was sitting next to Maisie Langdon.

* * *

**Author's Note: This idea had been in my head for a few weeks now, and wouldn't leave me alone until I began writing it! So hopefully you guys enjoyed it. I haven't quite figured out how this will all play out, so we'll all go on this journey together. As some of you may know, my George/OC story "For Whoever Brings the Night" is still being written, and I hope to have the next chapter up within a few days. It's currently Easter weekend and I have the next few days off of work. So look forward to that and the next chapter of An Origin of Symmetry! Don't forget to review! Thank you for reading!**


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